Using Argument as Tool for Science Literacy

Washburn, E., & Cavagnetto, A. (2013). Using argument as a tool for integrating science and literacy. The Reading Teacher, 67(2), 127-136.

Background

The authors indicated that literacy and science educators had advocated for science and literacy to be integrated. However, the implementation of an integrated framework was difficult.

Aims

The aim of the article is to present an instructional framework that can be used to help teachers to bring together best literacy practices for learning in science.

Sample

The authors used a case study of a Grade 5 science classroom in America to illustrate how a teacher used the framework to teach sound travel.

Method

The authors presented PONG cycles as a framework integrating science and literacy. PONG is an acronym that represents exploring a problem or question, making observations, negotiating, and making meaning from observations towards a target end goal. There were six PONG cycles:

1. Negotiating the question to explore;

2. Generating an investigation design;

3. Making a prediction/ hypothesis;

4. Generating claims and moving towards understanding;

5. Consulting the experts; and

6. Reflecting on how ideas have changed.

In each phase of the PONG cycle, at least one aspect of literacy was used to engage students in science learning. For example, in the negotiation phase, students could present their group’s proposed designs and this would involve listening and speaking skills.

Findings

The teacher and students engaged in literacy practices, such as listening, speaking, writing, and reading, which helped support them in the PONG cycle framework. Students generated questions to explore sound travel. Next, they designed investigations to answer their questions by drawing diagrams and writing instructions. They then conducted concurrent poster sessions by presenting and listening to one another. Next, students wrote down their predictions regarding their experiments. After conducting the experiments, they presented their research questions, research designs, observations, and evidence-based claims. The teacher then helped students move towards a theory of sound travel through discussion. She provided students with material from textbooks and trade books so that they could check experts’ views on sound travel. Students then wrote down their claims about sound travel and demonstrated how their ideas changed over time. The next day, students reviewed each other’s ideas.

Implications

The authors recommended that teachers could engage students in speaking and listening activities that helped in their understanding of scientific concepts. Teachers could engage students in writing with the purpose of generating and supporting claims, and in reading with the purpose of getting students to check their ideas against those written by experts.

Original article retrieved from EBSCOHost.